Rincewind53:Uh, yeah. Declining male power is largely the result of the economy making traditionally male-dominated physical jobs mostly obsolete.

"It's the economy, stupid"

This.

I don't really see how blame has anything to do with it, especially blaming one sex against another. Did stagecoach drivers and lamp oil workers blame one sex for their declining roles in society? The world changed and economic shifts value certain skills over another.

That being said, someone like me wouldn't survive a day on an oil rig/coal mine/forestry crew, so there are still a few job sectors that value traditional "masculine" traits

I blame a zeitgeist of "SOMEBODY HAS TO BE BLAMED!" being shoved under our noses like lilac sprinkled dogsh*t for four decades. You don't have to pull a gun on people to steal from them. Just keep them hating each other 24/7 while you pick their pockets.

I'm not so feminist that I want to take out my own trash, crawl under the house to do repairs, or lift heavy things. I am willing to trade dinner making, dishes washing, and grocery shopping for these things.

I can cook, clean, do my washing, change my own tires, oil and spark plugs and light remodeling. And do. If I meet a bright, pretty and kind woman who wants to hang out and hold up her half of the sky, that'd be lovely. As far as who does, what, I'm sort of communist about that. Each according to their abilities, each according to the needs of the common good.

bunner:I can cook, clean, do my washing, change my own tires, oil and spark plugs and light remodeling. And do. If I meet a bright, pretty and kind woman who wants to hang out and hold up her half of the sky, that'd be lovely. As far as who does, what, I'm sort of communist about that. Each according to their abilities, each according to the needs of the common good.

Ok, from now on can we refer to Jezebel as "BibleSlut.com"?/I can't believe they were actually applauding the "death" of manliness!//Well, actually I can, considering they seem obsessed with "the patriarchy" and seem to have a love/hate relationship with the male gender.///Christ, we need to start toughening up our kids! Of both genders! If we actually have a real war, we can't be stopping ever ten minutes because someone has a boo-boo or wants to discuss their feelings.

Richard C Stanford:Ok, from now on can we refer to Jezebel as "BibleSlut.com"?/I can't believe they were actually applauding the "death" of manliness!//Well, actually I can, considering they seem obsessed with "the patriarchy" and seem to have a love/hate relationship with the male gender.///Christ, we need to start toughening up our kids! Of both genders! If we actually have a real war, we can't be stopping ever ten minutes because someone has a boo-boo or wants to discuss their feelings.

They love trolling just like every other news aggregator. Your poutrage is what sustains them.

I would think men would welcome the opportunity to be a little softer and carry fewer of the traditional burdens. After all, I know far more men who struggle with not being perceived as manly enough than struggle with being too manly

Success, initiative, and confidence. Things that women appreciate in a man haven't changed. I do believe the extinction of the saber-toothed tiger was the largest contributor to man's instant gratification. Nowadays it's honey-do lists, finding Saturday night entertainment without help, and contributing to the day-to-days.

And of course passionate sex. If you can deliver there on a frequent schedule, you're more than 75% of the way there.

/ 22% of the way there// should be an online quiz to measure your manliness/// likely on Jezebel already...

Dear Abby, March 2013 sometime: "Old-fashioned romance started dying out in the late 1960s and early '70s. As women became more aggressive, men became more passive."

As to the article: physical strength aside, we've gotta figure out if men (overall) have a better aptitude for physics/engineering-type stuff, or if women simply haven't been "socialized to" choose and excel in those fields.

gadian:I would think men would welcome the opportunity to be a little softer and carry fewer of the traditional burdens. After all, I know far more men who struggle with not being perceived as manly enough than struggle with being too manly

It's not very manly to pay much attention to perceptions. The "men" you're describing are self defeating poseurs.

I'll be on the couch playing video games and being a grown-up kid in the meantime.

You say that sitting on the couch playing video games makes you a grown-up kid, but it's increasingly evident that the kids who sat on a couch playing video games in the 90's are now the ones raking in money doing office jobs and technical work, while all of the manly men football players are unemployed or janitors.

I understand where the author is coming from. When the only men you encounter are the pathetic, pussified gamma males taking the same gender studies courses that you are (or post to the same news aggregator site that you do), it's easy to come to the these conclusions.